§ 17

Law § 17 of Hammurabi's Code

Summary
the reward for returning a missing slave is two shekels of silver.
Translation
If a man captured an escaped male or female slave in the hinterland and has conducted him to his owner, the slave’s owner will give him two shekels of silver.
Law Code
Law Code of Hammurabi
Law Group
Theft, Kidnapping, Robbery

Cuneiform

Law § 17 - Cuneiform - Law Code of Hammurabi

Source: Bergmann (1953, p. 6, col. VIII, lns. 49–58)

Transliteration

šum-ma a-wi-lum lu ÌR lu GEME2 ḫal-qá-am i-na ṣe-ri-im iṣ-ba-at-ma a-na be-lí-šu ir-te-de-a-aš-šu 2 GÍN KUG.BABBAR be-el ÌR i-na-ad-di-iš-šum

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 95)

Normalization

šumma awīlum lū wardam lū amtam ḫalqam ina ṣērim iṣbat-ma ana bēlīšu irtedeaššu, šinā šiqil kaspam bēl wardim inaddiššum

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 95)

Translation

If a man captured an escaped male or female slave in the hinterland and has conducted him to his owner, the slave’s owner will give him two shekels of silver.

Source: Huehnergard (2013, p. 95)

Citation

MLA 9

Dedović, B. "§ 17 - eHammurabi." OMNIKA Foundation, 25 Oct. 2023, ehlaw.org/law/17. [Accessed 14 Nov. 2026]

APA 7

Dedović, B. (2023, October 25). § 17 - eHammurabi. OMNIKA Foundation. https://ehlaw.org/law/17

CMS 16

Dedović, Boban. "§ 17 - eHammurabi." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation. Created October 25, 2023. Modified January 26, 2025. Accessed November 14, 2026. https://ehlaw.org/law/17.

Bibliography

ACH

Abulhab, Saad D. The Law Code of Hammurabi: Transliterated and Literally Translated from its Early Classical Arabic Language. New York, NY: Blautopf, 2017.

CHTP

Bergmann, Eugen. Codex Ḫammurabi: Textus Primigenius. Rome, Italy: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1953.

HAG3

Huehnergard, John. A Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2011.

HKEY3

Huehnergard, John. Key to a Grammar of Akkadian (Third Edition). Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2013.

–

OMNIKA Foundation Contributors. "OMNIKA: Digital Mythology Library & Search Engine." Las Vegas, NV: OMNIKA Foundation, accessed November 14, 2023. https://omnika.org. [Visit]

RHL

Richardson, Mervyn E.J. Hammurabi's Laws: Text, Translation and Glossary. New York, NY: T & T Clark International, 2004.

SoT

Sound of Text Contributors. "Sound of Text: AI Text-to-Speech." Accessed November 14, 2023. https://soundoftext.app. [Visit]

eHammurabi Glossary

The § symbol is a shorthand notation for the word 'section'.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Cuneiform is an ancient writing system used by various cultures around Mesopotamia.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Normalization is the application of grammatical rules unto transliterated sound values.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Translation is the conversion of linguistic contents and their meanings from one language into another.

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eHammurabi Glossary

Transliteration is the conversion of sound values from one writing system into another.

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